Blog

Aug 21

Our Tech vs. Star Wars Tech

The first time you watched Star Wars, you probably wanted nothing more than your very own lightsaber. Of course, you were probably a child, so it’s a good thing the lightsabers in our galaxy are collapsible and plastic.

Many a mind was blown by tech in the 1977 Star Wars, and the upcoming “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” will certainly have its fair share of cool gadgetry. But in the 41 years since the former was released, Earthlings have come up with some technology that makes Star Wars gadgets seem — well, old school.

Take R2-D2, a small robot that “beeps” and “boops” its way into our hearts. The droid carries around vital information in a credit card-sized data device. Today, a card that size could carry your entire music library. Or, better yet, that information could have been beamed over by Google Drive, not chased around the galaxy. (But where’s the fun in that?)

That information includes the now-iconic choppy hologram of Princess Leia pleading for help. The tech giants in that universe worked out how to blow up planets, but they sure are short on proper display screens. The few display screens shown in Star Wars were simple and outdone when the first home Nintendo was released in 1985, let alone the bezel-less OLED display of the iPhone 8.

Speaking of displays, check out all those clunky levers and tall square buttons on control boards in the spaceships. Touchscreens and voice command would have made the cockpits of those ships much more slick.

We’ll forgive George Lucas for these short sights in technology. After all, we can see the future of technology right in front of us, whereas he was telling the story from a long time ago.